RandBall: Warriors relent on including Klay Thompson in Love deal; is that enough?

Blog Post by: Michael Rand

June 19, 2014 - 5:05 PM

Golden State has reportedly relented on including Klay Thompson in a deal with the Wolves for Kevin Love, which could be a key to unlocking a trade.

Thompson and David Lee are the two names most frequently mentioned, though we have to imagine the Wolves would be after one more asset in return.

Regardless, the question we have is this: should Thompson be considered a good enough player to be the centerpiece in a deal?

At first pass, we enthusiastically answered "yes." He's young, he shoots lights out, and he figures to improve. That's the type of player the Wolves should want to add to their core.

But while he is under team control for two more seasons (final year of rookie deal plus one qualifying offer season) at a very reasonable price, he figures to get expensive quickly after that. He could be a max-offer player, or at least think he is.

That's a lot of money for a player that doesn't fare too kindly in advanced stats -- even the simple ones like Player Efficiency Rating.

Then again, this could be the best offer the Wolves get, if indeed the pieces fall into place. What to do?